My first external raid5 array - Is there a build status utility?

[Rakewell]

I've spent way too much time googling this, but to no avail. Needing the wisdom of this forum.

I've recently purchased the following:

-Rosewill RSV-S5 (with included Sil3132r5 card)
-5x3tb hard drives

I'm using windows 7 x64 with the included card, and started the I started building the array with the satararaid5 manager at 4 pm PST yesterday.

I know it's gonna take a long time (I'm not CPU bound), and creating the array will probably take about as long as it would take to fill each single drive = 15tb.

There is, of course, no status meter for the build. Prolly three days? I'd love to know if it's even building.

Any ideas as to how I'm to check building status? Is there a SI or third party utility I could use?

Thanks in advance.

Rakewell

 

[dave_the_nerd]

It shouldn't take THAT long.

Windows resource monitor should let you monitor disk access. That process should be generating some numbers.

 

[Rakewell]

It shouldn't take THAT long.

Windows resource monitor should let you monitor disk access. That process should be generating some numbers.

What am I looking for though?

SataRaid5ConfigService.exe *32 appears to be idle at 0%, as does the app...

And the full unallocated array (11177.95 GB) appears in disk management...

Has it already been created?

 

[LTC8K6]

I think the Raid manager should give you the status?

http://www.rosewill.com/Mgnt/Uploads2/AttachmentForProduct/UserManual-RSV-S5.pdf

 

[Rakewell]

I think the Raid manager should give you the status?

http://www.rosewill.com/Mgnt/Uploads2/AttachmentForProduct/UserManual-RSV-S5.pdf

One would think

But it's giving me nothing. It's not frozen, but you can't click on anything. it's just this:

Meanwhile, my disk management says this:

What the hell do I do?

 

[LTC8K6]

Right click on it and create the simple volume and then give it a drive letter, I think?

That seems to be what the manual says?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

What am I looking for though?

SataRaid5ConfigService.exe *32 appears to be idle at 0%, as does the app...

And the full unallocated array (11177.95 GB) appears in disk management...

Has it already been created?

Sounds like it. 😎

I'm curious why you chose to use this instead of Windows software RAID though. (?)

 

[Rakewell]

Sounds like it. 😎

I'm curious why you chose to use this instead of Windows software RAID though. (?)

It was hardware raid, the Rosewill included the Sil3132r5 card...

I was able to format, and I'm transferring files as I write this.

(Had to cancel the app with the task manager)...

HEY DEVS:

Is it too much to provide an progress indicator? 😕

 

[Rakewell]

Right click on it and create the simple volume and then give it a drive letter, I think?

That seems to be what the manual says?

Yeah... but the manual didn't mention "the program will give no time indication, and will not display raid creation status. User will need to cancel Manager via windows task manager, and then create simple volume".

😉

 

[dave_the_nerd]

It was hardware raid, the Rosewill included the Sil3132r5 card...

Nope. It's a standard SATA controller with port multiplier support. The RAID-ing is done is software.

 

[Rakewell]

Nope. It's a standard SATA controller with port multiplier support. The RAID-ing is done is software.

Dave, then I'm confused...

Isn't the presence of a card denote hardware raid? I thought software raid was through Windows...

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Dave, then I'm confused...

Isn't the presence of a card denote hardware raid? I thought software raid was through Windows...

Not exactly. The card is a "dummy" SATA controller, much like the SATA ports already on your motherboard. They "support" RAID inasmuch as "configuring drives in a software RAID won't not work."

Software RAID can be implemented by most versions of Windows, but there are other third-party programs (including the Sil SATARAID5 software you're probably using, but also including things like FlexRAID) that do the same thing within a Windows environment, or within a different operating system.

Take a second look at the manual you linked - it repeatedly refers to "SoftRaid5."

Also, check the Sil spec sheet on the 3132 controller.

With the SiI 3132, Silicon Image provides customers with drivers for the Windows and Linux operating systems for both RAID and non-RAID operations. Software RAID 0 (striping) and RAID 1 (mirroring) functions are supported through Silicon Image's SATARaid™ RAID management software utility when each port is connected to a single hard drive. When used with a SATA port multiplier, Software RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10 (mirrored stripe) and RAID 5 (parity RAID) are supported.

Finally, it's just way too inexpensive. That might not set off any flags for most people, but I'm up to my ears in this crap, and know a too-low price when I see one. 😛

Not that software RAID is bad, mind you. All it means is that your computers main CPU is responsible for doing all the math involved in keeping track of which data went where, and in the case of a RAID-5, doing parity calculations. Reliable, well-regarded software RAID or RAID-like implementations include things like ZFS, or the virtualized storage pooling used on most large-scale SANs.

It also means, that you may have some difficulty migrating your array to a new system. (A newer operating system may not support the SATARAID5 software.)

Mostly, though, I don't particularly appreciate the (IMO) deceptive and confusing product descriptions that you probably ran into, that apparently left you with the false impression that you had a hardware RAID controller. (I found quite a few of them myself.)

 

[Rakewell]

Not exactly. The card is a "dummy" SATA controller, much like the SATA ports already on your motherboard. They "support" RAID inasmuch as "configuring drives in a software RAID won't not work."

Software RAID can be implemented by most versions of Windows, but there are other third-party programs (including the Sil SATARAID5 software you're probably using, but also including things like FlexRAID) that do the same thing within a Windows environment, or within a different operating system.

Take a second look at the manual you linked - it repeatedly refers to "SoftRaid5."

Also, check the Sil spec sheet on the 3132 controller.

Finally, it's just way too inexpensive. That might not set off any flags for most people, but I'm up to my ears in this crap, and know a too-low price when I see one. 😛

Not that software RAID is bad, mind you. All it means is that your computers main CPU is responsible for doing all the math involved in keeping track of which data went where, and in the case of a RAID-5, doing parity calculations. Reliable, well-regarded software RAID or RAID-like implementations include things like ZFS, or the virtualized storage pooling used on most large-scale SANs.

It also means, that you may have some difficulty migrating your array to a new system. (A newer operating system may not support the SATARAID5 software.)

Mostly, though, I don't particularly appreciate the (IMO) deceptive and confusing product descriptions that you probably ran into, that apparently left you with the false impression that you had a hardware RAID controller. (I found quite a few of them myself.)

Wow,

Thanks for that detailed response - I understand now. Would have preferred to have read this a week ago, whilst doing my due diligence on this system.

Frustrated by Rosewill's included crappy sil3132 and unbearably slow transfer rates, I ordered this to replace - Here's to hoping that I'm not out of the frying pan on this one, I just want a decent non-NAS backup solution for the love of all that is good.

Oh, and I see what you mean by inexpensive solutions... googling "true hardware raid" gets many sites that more than backup your explanation above.

Ugh.

Thanks again for your help. Take care mate-

Rakewell

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Wow,

Thanks for that detailed response - I understand now. Would have preferred to have read this a week ago, whilst doing my due diligence on this system.

Frustrated by Rosewill's included crappy sil3132 and unbearably slow transfer rates, I ordered this to replace - Here's to hoping that I'm not out of the frying pan on this one, I just want a decent non-NAS backup solution for the love of all that is good.

Oh, and I see what you mean by inexpensive solutions... googling "true hardware raid" gets many sites that more than backup your explanation above.

Ugh.

Thanks again for your help. Take care mate-

Rakewell

Don't be tooooo irritable. 😎

The Sil 3132 SATA controller and the Sil3726 port multiplier in your enclosure are well suited to each other. And like I said before, there's nothing really wrong with software RAID; I would just be wary of this specific software raid implementation, mostly because it's kind of old. (Manual doesn't refer to anything newer than Windows Vista, and in googling, I found references to people who had trouble working with Windows 8.) You could certainly just use it as a SATA controller and use Windows SoftRAID.

You're also probably bottlenecked by the PCI-E x1 connection and the SATA-II connections in your external enclosure / port multiplier. The Highpoint does look like it gets you some neat hardware RAID features (which is cool), but I would caution you not to expect it to much - if any - faster than what you have now.

Good luck to ya. 🙂

 

[Squeetard]

Is it too much to provide an progress indicator? 😕

Not needed as there is no build time on a new array on blank disks. Your array was done seconds after you said do it.